The unrelenting storm unleashed its wrath on a wide swath east of Houston, leaving thousands stranded in flooded homes and forcing the evacuation of a nursing facility and even an emergency shelter where residents had sought refuge.

"Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming!" Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted Wednesday on Facebook. "If you called, we are coming. Please get to higher ground if you can, but please try (to) stay out of attics."

My uncles have been rescuing people in Port Arthur for 24hrs! So blessed to have such a helpful family who help others in times like this! pic.twitter.com/O2qIVGHqxR

Misery in Houston

Emergency workers and throngs of volunteers went door to door for a fifth day Wednesday, trying to rescue victims of the flood. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said authorities have received 60,000 to 70,000 calls for help.

For the first time since the weekend, authorities said, the flooding in Houston is slowly receding in some areas.

The Houston Astros announced they will play a doubleheader at home on Saturday against the New York Mets. The team played the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Florida, earlier this week because of the hurricane.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the home game will provide "a much needed boost for our city" and offer residents "some aspect of normal life."

But dangerous flooding will continue from Houston all the way into southwestern Louisiana for the rest of the week, the National Weather Service said.

Houses built 'inside a lake' could degrade

Controversy has surrounded the placement of houses near Houston's Barker and Addicks reservoirs, especially since floodwater overflowed the latter.

Residents evacuate their homes Tuesday near the Addicks Reservoir in Houston.

"They allowed them to build homes inside the reservoir. And these homes are flooded -- 2,500 homes are flooded, some of them up to 5 feet deep," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said Wednesday. "They built homes inside a lake."

And those homes "will be inundated for several weeks," said Jeff Lindner with Harris County Flood Control.

"The closest comparison that I can draw to those homes ... is Hurricane Katrina," Lindner said.

"When water sits in a house for several weeks, the house begins to degrade."

Lindner said those residents will be able to return after several weeks, but "we are not sure what the condition of those homes are going to be."

He also said it's unclear whether rebuilding homes in the same area will be allowed.

Louisiana weathers Harvey, Texas 'taking it on the chin'

Louisiana was largely spared from Harvey's wrath on Wednesday.

"While things are still serious and there is a long way to go, we ... have fared much better than we'd feared might be the case, but our neighbors are still taking it on the chin," Gov. John Bel Edwards said. "In Texas, we're going to do everything we can do to be good neighbors to them."

Harvey is still threatening to dump an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain from northern Louisiana into western Kentucky, forecasters said. It weakened over land and fizzled to a tropical depression Wednesday night, with winds of 35 mph.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said volunteers helped New Orleans recover after Katrina and they will do the same for Texas residents affected by Harvey.

New Orleans officials announced a fundraiser to help the residents of Houston and other flooded Texas cities recover from Harvey.

"No city was more welcoming for the citizens of New Orleans than the people of Houston," Landrieu said. "And our heart breaks for them as they go through their trying to times."

More rescues, mother dies

In Beaumont, rescuers Tuesday afternoon came upon a toddler in a pink backpack clinging to her mother's body in floodwaters about a half mile from their car. The mother was getting out of her car when she stepped into a canal, Mayor Becky Ames said.

The girl was in stable condition with hypothermia.

"Had we been a few moments later, they would have been swept underneath (a trestle) and our boats wouldn't have been able to get them," Haley Morrow, spokeswoman for the Beaumont Emergency Management Office, told CNN on Wednesday.

"A true testament of a mother who put her own life at risk and sacrificed her life to save her child. That was devastating."

In Port Arthur, about 90 miles east of the devastated Houston area, the deluge was so severe that floodwaters overwhelmed the Bob Bowers Civic Center, which was serving as a shelter. It was evacuated Wednesday after taking on water overnight, according to volunteer Ana Platero.

Cots where people slept the night before floated on 2 feet of water on Wednesday as people waited on tables or sat on elevated bleachers to be evacuated to a nearby middle school.

At Lake Arthur Place, a nursing home in Port Arthur, rescue workers evacuated up to 74 bedridden patients after an altercation involving relatives who tried to take out loved ones on their own, CNN affiliate KTRK reported.

All residents were taken to local hospitals in Beaumont, the nursing home operator said.

Some Port Arthur residents sought shelter in a bowling alley.

Cynthia Harmon told CNN by phone that she was trapped with her two sons and two grandsons in the attic of her Port Arthur home. They began waiting for rescuers at midnight Tuesday and had run out of food and water by Wednesday afternoon.

"I didn't think the water was going to rise like that," she said. "I've never been in anything like this."

The family was rescued later on Wednesday.

Police made an appeal for volunteers to bring boats and help.

"Rescue boats welcome in Port Arthur to assist emergency personnel," the police department posted on Facebook. The city asked anyone trapped to hang a white towel, sheet or shirt outside to alert rescuers.

Photos:Hurricane Harvey slams Texas

Downtown Houston is reflected in the flooded Buffalo Bayou on Wednesday, August 30, five days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas. The Category 4 storm came ashore late Friday, August 25, just north of Port Aransas, and has caused historic flooding. Correction: Previous versions of this gallery incorrectly reported that Hurricane Harvey is the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005. Harvey is actually the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States since Charley in 2004.

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Members of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Louisiana National Guard help rescue elderly people from a flooded assisted living home in Orange, Texas, on August 30.

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A baby sits with family belongings at a Gallery Furniture store in Houston being used as a temporary shelter on August 30.

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Floodwaters engulf homes in Port Arthur on August 30.

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Janice Forse cries at an emergency shelter in Beaumont on August 30. Her home in Beaumont was flooded Wednesday morning. "Even Katrina wasn't this bad," Forse told the Austin American-Statesman.

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Tammy Dominguez, left, and her husband, Christopher Dominguez, sleep on cots at the George R. Brown Convention Center, where nearly 10,000 people are taking shelter in Houston, on August 30.

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A cat tries to find dry ground around a flooded apartment complex on August 30 in Houston.

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Volunteer rescue workers help a woman from her flooded home in Port Arthur on August 30.

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The Florida Air Force Reserve Pararescue team from the 308th Rescue Squadron helps evacuees board a helicopter in Port Arthur on August 30.

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Water from the Addicks Reservoir flows into neighborhoods in Houston as floodwaters rise Tuesday, August 29.

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Chris Gutierrez, second from right, helps his grandmother, Edelmira Gutierrez, down the stairs of their flooded house and into a waiting firetruck in the Concord Bridge neighborhood of Houston on August 29.

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Members of the National Guard rest at a furniture store in Richmond, Texas, on August 29.

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Alexis Hernandez holds her daughter Faith at the George R. Brown Convention Center, which is serving as a shelter in Houston.

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Evacuees make their way though floodwaters in Houston on August 29.

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President Donald Trump takes part in a briefing on Harvey as he visits Corpus Christi on August 29. In a stop in Austin, Trump spoke of the long-term effort and stiff costs that will be needed to rebuild the region. "Nobody's seen this kind of water," he said. "Probably, there's never been something so expensive in our country's history." While talking about recovery and relief efforts, Trump said, "We want to do it better than ever before."

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Civilian rescuers put a boat into a flooded road to search for people in Cypress on August 29.

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Volunteers organize items donated for Hurricane Harvey victims in Dallas on August 29.

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An overview of downtown Houston on August 29 shows the scale of the catastrophic flooding.

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Matthew Koser searches for important papers and heirlooms inside his grandfather's house in Houston's Bear Creek neighborhood on August 29. The neighborhood flooded after water was released from nearby Addicks Reservoir.

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Shane Johnson removes items from a family home in Rockport, Texas, on August 29.

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Airplanes sit at a flooded airport in Houston on August 29.

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People set up a shelter for volunteer rescue workers at Fairfield Baptist Church in Cypress, Texas, on August 29.

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Shardea Harrison looks at her 3-week-old baby, Sarai, as Dean Mize, right, and Jason Legnon use an airboat to rescue them from their home in Houston on Monday, August 28.

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Thousands take shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on August 28.

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Rescue boats fill Tidwell Road in Houston as they help flood victims evacuate the area on August 28.

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People wait to be rescued from their flooded home in Houston on August 28.

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A firefighter helps Sara Golden and her daughters Paisley, Poppy and Piper board a Texas Air National Guard C-130 at Scholes International Airport in Galveston, Texas, on August 28.

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People make their way out of a flooded neighborhood in Houston on August 28.

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Sam Speights removes possessions from his damaged home in Rockport on August 28.

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Flood victims wait to unload from the back of a heavy-duty truck after being evacuated from their homes in Houston on August 28.

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People leave a flooded area of Houston on August 28.

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People are rescued in Houston on August 28.

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Bridget Brundrett presents an American flag to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott while he was in Rockport on August 28. The flag had been recovered from city hall after flying during the hurricane.

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A Coast Guard helicopter hoists a wheelchair on board after lifting a person to safety from a flooded area of Houston on August 28.

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Houston flood victims eat and rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center on August 28.

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Belinda Penn holds her dogs Winston and Baxter after being rescued from their home in Spring, Texas, on August 28.

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A firefighter is wheeled to a waiting ambulance after he became fatigued while fighting an office-building fire in downtown Houston on August 28.

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People evacuate a neighborhood in west Houston on August 28.

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Julie Martinez, right, hugs her daughter, Gabrielle Jackson, in front of a relative's damaged apartment in Rockport on August 28.

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Cattle are stranded in a flooded pasture in La Grange, Texas, on August 28.

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Volunteer rescue boats make their way into a flooded subdivision in Spring, Texas, on August 28.

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Houston police officer Daryl Hudeck carries Catherine Pham and her 13-month-old son, Aiden, after rescuing them from floodwaters on Sunday, August 27.

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People push a stalled pickup through a flooded street in Houston on August 27.

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Residents of Rockport return to their destroyed home on August 27.

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The Buffalo Bayou floods parts of Houston on August 27.

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Two men try to beat the current that was pushing them down an overflowing Brays Bayou in Houston on August 27.

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Jane Rhodes is rescued by neighbors in Friendswood, Texas, on August 27.

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Volunteers at Sacred Heart Catholic Church prepare cots for evacuees in Elgin, Texas, on August 27.

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Damage to a home is seen in the Key Allegro neighborhood of Rockport on August 27.

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Melani Zurawski cries while inspecting her home in Port Aransas on August 27.

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Wilford Martinez, right, is rescued from his flooded car along Interstate 610 in Houston on August 27. Assisting him here is Richard Wagner of the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

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A car is submerged by floodwaters on a freeway near downtown Houston on August 27.

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A resident of the Bayou on the Bend apartment complex watches its first floor flood in Houston on August 27.

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A city flag, tattered by the effects of Hurricane Harvey, flaps in the wind over the police station in Rockport on August 27.

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Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and Lucas Wu lift Ethan Wu into an airboat as they evacuate the Orchard Lakes subdivision in Fort Bend County, Texas, on August 27.

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Damage is seen at a boat storage building in Rockport on August 27.

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Water rushes from a large sinkhole along a highway in Rosenberg, Texas, on August 27.

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Evacuees wade through a flooded section of Interstate 610 in Houston on August 27.

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Evacuees are loaded onto a truck on an Interstate 610 overpass in Houston on August 27.

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A graveyard is flooded in Pearland, Texas, on August 27.

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A driver works his way through a maze of fallen utility poles in Taft, Texas, on Saturday, August 26.

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Steve Culver comforts his dog Otis on August 26 as he talks about what he said was the "most terrifying event in his life." Hurricane Harvey destroyed most of his home in Rockport while he and his wife were there.

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People walk through flooded streets in Galveston on August 26.

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Aaron Tobias stands in what is left of his Rockport home on August 26. Tobias said he was able to get his wife and kids out before the storm arrived, but he stayed there and rode it out.

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Brad Matheney offers help to a man in a wheelchair in Galveston on August 26.

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Jessica Campbell hugs Jonathan Fitzgerald after riding out Hurricane Harvey in an apartment in Rockport.

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Boats are damaged in Rockport on August 26.

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A damaged home in Rockport on August 26.

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Donna Raney makes her way out of the wreckage of her home as Daisy Graham assists her in Rockport on August 26. Raney was hiding in the shower after the roof blew off and the walls of her home caved in.

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A laundromat's machines are exposed to the elements in Rockport on August 26.

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A semi-truck is overturned on a highway south of Houston on August 26.

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An American flag flies in front of a damaged mobile-home park in Rockport on August 26.

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NASA astronaut Jack Fischer photographed Hurricane Harvey from the International Space Station on Friday, August 25.

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Waves pound the shore as Harvey approaches Corpus Christi, Texas, on August 25.

Port Arthur, a city of about 55,000, is in exceptional danger because water from Beaumont is expected to flow toward it.

In Beaumont, a man who accidentally drove a truck into a flooded ravine that looked like a street was rescued by CNN correspondent Drew Griffin, producer Brian Rokus and photographer Scott Pisczek on Wednesday. "I want to thank these guys for saving my life," said the driver, Jerry Sumrall.

In Woodville, a town north of Beaumont, US Rep. Brian Babin was trapped for part of Wednesday at home with members of his family after a creek overflowed.

"I'm in my home in Tyler County, and we could not get out unless a helicopter plucks me out or I get my boat and launch it," the Texas Republican told CNN by phone early in the day. "We're fine. These waters are going to recede hopefully sometime this evening."

On Wednesday afternoon, a US Navy helicopter plucked seven people from floodwaters.

'We help each other out'

Strangers from across the country descended on Texas and braved treacherous floodwater to evacuate victims.

At least 9,000 to 10,000 people have been rescued in the Houston region by first responders. Volunteers said they have helped as many as 400 in one day.

Some would just "come crying, just wanting help," volunteer Bobba Bedri said. "I just felt like I had to get more people out, keep going and keep going."

CLARIFICATION: Harvey made its first landfall at 10 p.m. local time Friday, initially striking a barrier island near Port Aransas, Texas, before moving onto the US mainland two hours later near Copano Bay, Texas. After re-emerging into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, it made another landfall Wednesday in Louisiana.